WashWire Daily Brief: Scaling Back Budget Goals

Welcome to the new WashWire Daily Brief newsletter, the Journal’s morning rundown of the biggest news stories and exclusive features from Washington on politics, policy, financial regulation, defense and more.

The 2015 White House budget makes one thing very clear: Nobody is looking to get into any major fights with midterms just months away. President Barack Obama‘s plan was largely devoid of lofty new policy goals, focusing instead on targeted measures that have mostly been previously proposed. Administration officials said the proposals—including spending increases for education and infrastructure and increased aid for low-income workers and the unemployed—would help employment and economic growth, but they stopped well short of the president’s first-term ambitions like revamping the nation’s health care.

The budget, as expected, received a largely chilly reception from Republicans. Though there were some points of agreement—the GOP has also expressed interest in infrastructure spending and in strengthening some anti-poverty programs—Republicans are largely looking to postpone big political compromises in case they win control of the Senate in November. Republicans have also laid out a starkly different approach to helping low-income Americans, criticizing the government’s anti-poverty programs and emphasizing individual choice and accountability over government aid. Kristina Peterson has more: http://on.wsj.com/1craPVu Republicans aren’t the only ones criticizing Mr. Obama’s budget proposal. Labor unions, some of the president’s most loyal supporters, made some critiques of their own. Melanie Trottman reports: http://on.wsj.com/1hKh46l

Under Mr. Obama’s proposal, the deficit would reach prerecession levels by 2018, shrinking to 1.9% of GDP. But the White House’s budget outlook is more optimistic than estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which sees deficits widening again after 2015. That’s because the Obama proposal steers clear of the most politically troublesome area of the budget: the explosive long-run growth in entitlement programs like Medicare. Jeffrey Sparshott explains why the administration’s forecasts are more upbeat than most: http://on.wsj.com/1cr2AZz

Damian Paletta explores the nitty-gritty details of the budget: http://on.wsj.com/1cqlQ9v And for the Journal’s full coverage of the plan’s proposals—including expanding broadband access, enforcing immigration and commercializing NASA—read here: http://on.wsj.com/1hGCPDT

–Rebecca Ballhaus

JERRY SEIB: TRICKY POLITICAL GAMES IN UKRAINE

Secretary of State John Kerry went to Ukraine to reinforce American support of the Pro-Ukrainian movement. However, the U.S. is being careful in its political maneuvering as many countries in Europe have economic ties to Russia. Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Seib explains. VIDEO:http://on.wsj.com/1hLy5fD

PETER NICHOLAS’S BONUS EARLY HITOne of the striking and somewhat dispiriting revelations in the new batch of Clinton presidential archives released last week is just how little seems to have changed in the 20 years since Bill and Hillary Clinton entered the White House. A review of thousands of pages of internal memos shows the 42nd president grappling with many of the same policy dilemmas and stubborn political realities that bedevil the 44th. Read Peter Nicholas’s full post in Washington Wire: http://on.wsj.com/1dqscnn

WSJ STORIES YOU SHOULDN’T MISS

RUSSIA RELATIONS: Relations between the U.S. and Russia continue to sour, as Vladimir Putin staunchly defended his use of force in Crimea, rejecting Western demands to withdraw and calling sanctions counterproductive. Meanwhile, U.S. and European leaders intensified threats of punitive measures if Moscow doesn’t stand down. One glimmer of hope: These were Mr. Putin’s first extensive comments since Russian soldiers went on the move last weekend, which Obama administration officials said indicated a pause in escalation of tensions. Lukas I. Alpert, Jay Solomon and Margaret Coker report: http://on.wsj.com/MKoxpT

FLOOD INSURANCE: The House’s 306-91 vote to scale back flood-insurance rate increases will ease the bite of a 2012 law that attempts to shift more of the risk of holding property in flood-prone areas to owners by phasing out federal subsidies and taxpayer-funded discounts. Lawmakers reached a bipartisan compromise, following pressure from the real-estate industry and property owners in coastal regions. The bill must now be reconciled with a Senate bill approved in January. Siobhan Hughes reports: http://on.wsj.com/MLTcDm

INSURANCE DELAY: The Obama administration will let insurers sell policies that don’t comply with the federal health law for at least one more year—a second delay aimed at averting another furor over canceled plans. Mr. Obama first delayed the law’s provision by a year in November, which—in the absence of another delay—would have meant voters could have received cancellation notices before this November’s midterm elections. Louise Radnofsky and Anna Wilde Mathews report: http://on.wsj.com/MLy5AY

PRIVATE OPTION: Arkansas lawmakers overcame Republican resistance and voted to continue allowing the state to use Medicaid dollars to buy private health-care insurance for poorer residents, a compromise state Republicans and Democrats initially reached last fall that allowed the state to accept federal dollars and cut the number of uninsured residents without enlarging Medicaid. Such plans are critical to the Obama administration’s efforts to persuade a majority of states to agree to some kind of expansion of coverage for their lowest-income residents. Ana Campoy and Louise Radnofsky report: http://on.wsj.com/MLDZlE

-Compiled by Rebecca Ballhaus

WHAT WE’RE READING AROUND THE WEB

Tuesday’s primary elections in Texas left unsettled the question of how much clout the tea-party movement has, writes Paul Weber of the Associated Press, as one tea-party candidate forced Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst into a runoff, while tea-party challenges against two establishment stalwarts, Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Pete Sessions, failed. http://bit.ly/1hKb7GC

Steve Forbes worries that the International Monetary Fund, if it follows its usual formula in Ukraine, could make the situation there even worse: “Its functionaries routinely prescribe higher taxes, devaluations and the elimination of subsidies for countries with wayward economies. If a nation agrees to this toxic mix, the IMF will then give it supposedly lifesaving loans. The trouble is, this prescription severely harms any recovery.” http://onforb.es/1hKbgK9

While President Obama’ new budget isn’t going to fly very far in Congress, the discussion of it reveals Democrats and Republicans do agree on some things, writes Ron Fournier of National Journal, including that “the post-industrial economy and the Great Recession have created durable unemployment and social malaise, with a growing number of Americans questioning whether they and their children still have the ability to do better.” http://bit.ly/1hKbpgC

Tough words from President Obama toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggest he is going to pressure the Israeli leader into accepting a framework for peace with the Palestinians, but Aaron David Miller writes in Foreign Policy that this isn’t really very likely to happen. Presidents get deeply involved when chances of success are good, and they aren’t now, and Obama has limited leverage and few pressure points. http://atfp.co/1hKbwbT

Student populations are going to grow the fastest in coming years in a set of Western and Southern states—Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas and Florida—that also happen to be among those that spend the least per student, writes Mikhail Zinshteyn in The Atlantic. http://bit.ly/1hKbEZ7

MINOR MILESTONEPope Francis said that women could have greater decision-making power in the church’s hierarchy. He also said the Vatican could soon make significant changes to the Catholic church’s approach to divorcées. http://on.wsj.com/1hKi6PP

TWEETS OF THE DAY
@GrahamBlog: It started with Benghazi. When you kill Americans and nobody pays a price, you invite this type of aggression. #Ukraine http://bit.ly/1hKcpBa

@michellemalkin: UGH. @grahamblog , you are an embarrassment to all who truly care about Benghazi. Just stop==> http://bit.ly/1hKcUeG

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.